Album Review: Fellowship – The Skies Above Eternity (Scarlet Records)

British ascendants to the power metal throne, Fellowship, return with their new album titled The Skies Above Eternity, set for release on the 22nd of November via Scarlet Records.

Fellowship are a power metal band from Harwich, UK all set to release their sophomore album, following their full length debut, The Saberlight Chronicles, which came out in 2022. That album was a great success for the band and saw them spend the last couple years bringing their positive vibes to live audiences in Europe, Japan and America. Now, in 2024, Fellowship is ready to set the bar higher starting with the release of The Skies Above Eternity.

“The Skies Above Eternity” takes the classic Fellowship sound, adds a healthy sprinkle of Japanese power metal influence, and then makes a darker turn on a journey into a world where light is all but gone, and where hope is all but lost… Perhaps along the way we might find enough light within ourselves to illuminate the pathway home. A tale of princes and paupers, of oppression and resistance, of the value we get from simply looking up at the sun when times get tough, “The Skies Above Eternity” represent those human aspirations to live freely, live well and live on – no matter how hard or how bleak life may seem!

Fellowship are Matthew Corry on vocals, Brad Wosko on guitar, Sam Browne on guitar (studio-only), Ed Munson on bass and Callum Tuffen on drums. The Skies Above Eternity is produced by Rich Campbell at Orpheus Studio & mixed by Alexander Backlund at Fascination Street Studios. It also comes packing some incredible artwork courtesy of Peter Sallai (Sabaton, Powerwolf, Feuerschwanz).

Theatrical vocals mixed with infectious power metal energy, sharp classy songwriting and a heartfelt positive message is the order of the day with Fellowship and it takes very little time listening to opening track, Hold Up Your Hearts (Again) to feel that. The quick drums and riffs combine to raise your spirits while the clean ringing lead guitars add a big sprinkling of smile inducing melody. Vocals offer power and performance, soothing but impactful and elevate the track, and your spirit. It’s a comfortable and catchy listen that will resonate with any fan of power metal.

Victim and Bitterwinds keeps the quality coming with songs that invoke feeling and make you want to move through the catchy beats. Victim has a slightly more introspective feel to it. A song for reflection lyrically and vocally, a place to find your awareness and inner strength. Yet musically, it delivers a sonic masterclass of infectious beats, intelligent backing orchestral and impactful guitars. Bitterwinds has an intro to die for before it continues the trend of hitting us with a masterful dollop of infectious quality. It’s the most grand, the most epic song on The Skies Above Eternity so far and, as it moves through soaring passages into huge solos and catchy choruses, you will feel fully engaged and ready to face the day ahead.

Dawnbreaker is the first single taken from the new Fellowship album. In the band’s words:

“Dawnbreaker is a song of rebellion and the desire for freedom, carrying a beat that infects listeners with hope, drive, and ambition. Everyone has times where we feel like the world is completely dark; where neither light nor sound can get through the walls we put up to protect ourselves, or hide within. If we stay in the dark long enough, our eyes adapt and our pupils grow – we end up with ‘iron eyes’, all black, and hungry for any trace of light that finds its way into our dark worlds”

In my words, it’s another banger. Music that makes you feel, it’s just impossible not to like. There is a touch of grandeur again here with vocals that soar at times, and drip emption over the catchy beat and stunning guitars. Fellowship’s evolution and development is really shining through here.

Eternity offers another dollop of pacy power metal with guitars that have an almost video game vibe in the intro before it drops down into a nice folk melody. It picks back up and uses the transitioning between the power and the gentler side well to keep things flowing. Vocals are good again displaying an impressive level of ability and there is a wicked solo in a song that has an overall more melancholic feel to it in large parts. That feel turns to resolve and determination as the song moves towards its end and you get that feel both from the lyrical content but also the music.

King of Nothing has a similar feel to it with reflective lyrical content over a bed of powerful melody, pacy drums and a nice riff foundation. The melodic delivery of vocals and the lead guitars add touches of magic, especially in the superb solo and the clever and catchy chorus. The story continues with World End Slowly. A song that oozes emotion and class. It is a little more grandiose, getting into epic territory and packing a few extra tricks like the great solo and the way the solo starts building in to a chorus. I also really like the little melodic slow down, that then starts building up in layers until we get into that really epic ending chorus section.

We are near the end now though with out penultimate track A New Hope having a very festive feel to it’s intro. Those guitars are dreamy and return as bridges between the verses impactfully. This is a strong contender for the strongest song on The Skies Above Eternity, though there are a fair few contenders. I really enjoy the pacing, the gentle switches in feel and the impressive backing orchestral sounds. Of course the solo impresses – that’s come to be expected and the vocals are soothing, but powerful but some songs just catch you with the right feel at the right time and this one had the hairs on my arms standing on end.

So we end The Skies Above Eternity with the final track, Memories on the Wind. An outro song that just gives us a gorgeous, and a little festive still, orchestral minute of soft and soothing melody. The melody is very familiar to me and I can’t place it exactly but I really like it and I like how it offers a small moment to allow you to reflect on what we listened to across The Skies Above Eternity.

Fellowship have always been a band I enjoyed but The Skies Above Eternity has taken that to another level, showing a band that have grown leaps and bounds. They were already strong, but have clearly levelled up since the last time I checked in with them. The songwriting excites, the storytelling and delivery of the concept is a strong as ever and the way it flows, moving from chapter to chapter is exhilarating. For me, with no disrespect to anything Fellowship have released before, this is their strongest overall album to date.

Preorder/presave Fellowship’s The Skies Above Eternity here.

Fellowship Links

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